U.N. council condemns North Korea missile launch

By Patrick Worsnip

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council on Monday condemned North Korea's latest ballistic missile launches as a violation of council resolutions and a threat to regional and international security.

Pyongyang fired seven missiles into the Sea of Japan on Saturday -- the U.S. July 4 Independence Day -- in an apparent act of defiance of Washington, which has cracked down on firms suspected of helping the North in its arms and missiles trade.

The launches also alarmed Japan and South Korea, which are within range of North Korean missiles. Japan -- currently an elected council member -- said it had requested Monday's meeting of the 15-nation body.

"The members of the Security Council condemned and expressed grave concern at the launches, which constitute a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions and pose a threat to regional and international security," council president Ambassador Ruhakana Rugunda of Uganda said.

North Korea, which was banned from ballistic missile launches in a Security Council resolution passed last month, "must comply fully with its obligations," Rugunda said in an oral statement read to journalists.

Security Council members appealed to "all parties to refrain from any action that could aggravate the security situation in the region," he added.

Oral statements, which are not entered into the official record of Security Council proceedings, are the lowest level of council utterance. Western diplomats said they would have liked something more formal but were anxious to win the agreement of China, the closest Pyongyang has to an ally on the council.

Council statements have to be unanimous and "for China, only an oral statement would work," one diplomat said, adding that during discussions Chinese officials appeared "quite nervous about how far the statement would go."